Thursday, April 9, 2015

Putting spring together

Black cherry tomatoes are silhouetted against frost cloth pulled up to facilitate a morning inspection.

Weather being unpredictable, and time being of the essence, we here at Singing Frog Farm decided to plant a few rows of tomatoes early this year. Early for us, anyway. Last year we got them in around May 3. This year it was April 6. It's always risky to do that, but this year has been pretty warm and it may just continue that way after this unseasonably cool spell. Besides, we hedged our bets a little by covering the young tomatoes with frost cloth that boosts temps underneath by 6 to 8 degrees. And let's talk about the rain! The rain was perfectly timed for me: I have been waiting for it because, unlike other years where farmers wait for fields to dry out enough to get tractors onto them, this year I've been waiting for a storm to WET the fields up enough to get my tractor onto them. If not for that storm, the only way to get my fields ready for planting would have been to put big sprinklers on them for long hours so the tractors could get in there and do their work. Just one of many things making this a very interesting farming year. What will the rest be like? Only time will tell ....